Seven Deadly Sins, Mass Effect Style
by Sun-Tsu Toriden
Summary: There are Seven Deadly Sins: Pride. Wrath. Greed. Sloth. Lust. Envy. Gluttony. See which Characters in the ME verse embody them, and how it will lead them to wrack and ruin. Shepard is female, and any pairings are whatever you want to imagine. Rated T for now, probably until I hit any Lust stories.
1. Introduction

There are many sins in the galaxy, and many sinners. There are seven sins that are worthy of mention, seven that tarnish the soul in ways that cannot be easily undone. Such sins are the bane of existence, and will often lead to the end of the sinner that would commit them so wholly as to embody them.

These seven deadly sins are as follows:

_**Pride**_

_**Wrath**_

_**Greed**_

_**Sloth**_

_**Lust**_

_**Envy**_

_**Gluttony**_

* * *

**Hey All!  
**

**I had this idea for a fic after reading faRENheit's fantastic Queen's Gambit Accepted, the Chapter labelled Circle #2, Lust (from Dante's Inferno). This lead me, in my own way, to thinking about the Seven Sins and how certain characters in ME tend to embody them. So this will be a story about main characters who embody the Seven Sins listed above. It will be in no particular order, and there will be more than one story for certain sins, and some characters will display more than one of the sins.  
**

**As always, read and review.  
**


	2. Pride - Harbinger

**15 BCE**

"_Harbinger_." The voice called across the vastness of dark space using power and technology on a scale unimaginable to all the lesser beings that now thought they were the galaxy's power. They rose to their apex, and when they did Harbinger and its kind reminded the puny organics far they truly had to go. But they would never reach that level, for that was Harbinger's purpose. They were as dust and wind against the likes of Harbinger, they could not even grasp how far beneath they truly were.

"**Nazara, why do you contact us?**" Harbinger replied over the same method, subtle confusion in his manner unknowable except to those most ancient of its kin.  
"_We have a dangerous report. The minor organics have risen once again, and we have sent the signal to the Great Relay to begin the Cycle anew, but we must report failure_."  
"**Explain**." The single word was heavy with all sort of data-emotions, that even galaxy-distances away, Nazara quailed.

"_We have sent the signal that will activate the custodian-slaves, but they have not activated the Great Relay_."  
"**Send it again, our grand work is too perfect for a flaw**." Even Nazara could hear the notes of pride in Harbinger's response.  
"_With respect Harbinger, we have made 1337 attempts. We believe we have discovered the reason for this malfunction. Sometime after the last Cycle was completed, a modification was made to the Great Relay, and the signal to the custodian-slaves was altered_."

There was silence for a time as Harbinger considered. This was unprecedented, no species had ever managed to affect changes to the Great Relay, and the Cycle could not be continued without the Great Relay's activation. While Nazara was a shining example of the sheer power their kind exemplified, it hardly made them invincible. After eternal seconds of thought, an idea presented itself, and Harbinger felt rare tinglings in its deep processors of pride in its ability to think creatively when presented with a problem not encountered in thousands of Cycles.

"**Nazara, we have a solution**."  
"_We await instruction Harbinger_."  
"**Use your ability to influence to create chaos among the organics. Use this confusion to enter the Great Relay and take control manually. Then we shall flood the galaxy and the Harvest will commence**."  
"_I hear and obey, Harbinger_."

* * *

**2183 CE**

Even Harbinger, far beyond the edge of the Milky Way galaxy in the dark space between them, heard the death scream of Nazara, data flood into it along with programs desperately seeking a new platform to host them. Harbinger absorbed the data and purged the programs, too prideful to admit that one of his kind needed help. If it was stupid enough to fail more than once over two thousand years to find a way to access the Great Relay only to fail in the end, then it was not worthy to continue existing.

This did present a problem though. The organics, pitiful though they were, had now reached a point where they could present a threat, however insignificant. Nazara's execution was flawed, there was no other possible way Harbinger's scheme could not have succeeded. Now the organics were aware of the oncoming end of their existence. They would prepare, and cause more losses and damage to their betters, and the Harvest, than would be acceptable. A new solution would have to be found.

After thinking long and hard, a new solution again presented itself to Harbinger. He had not informed Nazara, for it was a project Harbinger had done on its own. During the last Harvest, it had been impressed by the performance of the organics. It had taken them two centuries longer than originally anticipated to finally purge their chaos from the galaxy, and for pitiful organics they had created some interesting and ingenious ideas. He decided to reward them by keeping them as pets, taking the best of them and warping them to its own desires. He had used them to study this Cycle's species in a piecemeal fashion since several centuries after Nazara's first report. Now it had a higher use for them, and activated the processes that would allow it to assume direct control once again.

This newest species, these 'humans' had been instrumental in Nazara's defeat. Examining the data from Nazara's scream, as well as data his drones now began to collect, it found there was one human in particular who seemed to embody and embolden these organics.

_**Shepard.**_

The name meant nothing, and the being it was attached to even less. It would strike a blow against the pitiful organics who dared to stand against their own salvation by reminding them how fragile and pathetic they were.

Shepard would die, and then be remade into a tool to herald their doom and ascension.

* * *

**2186 CE**

Harbinger could not understand how it had failed.

It had prided itself on its reasoning and planning, far outside what he had been called upon to do in long eons and countless cycles since it had been created. When Nazara had reported the failure to activate the Great Relay, it had been proud to suggest an alternative. When Nazara was destroyed, it was proud that it had thought to preserve something from the previous Cycle to continue, and succeed where Nazara had failed. It had killed the champion of the organics, this Shepard.

It had obviously underestimated Shepard, for the persistent organic had returned two short years later, barely a blip as Harbinger measured time, and destroyed his drones and the newest of his kind he had been directing them to create. There was only one option then, to bring the fleet to full awareness and have them start the long journey to the galaxy of light and chaos that sprawled around them and filled their optical processors.

The journey was long, and had been further delayed when the Alpha of the Lesser Relays was destroyed, once again by the meddling Shepard, further delaying the full invasion to begin the Harvest. Though the organics were easily attacked, they formed stubborn resistance bred from knowing their end was come and preparing for it, Shepard's doing no doubt. The pitiful organic had even found the Leviathan, the unworthy ancestral organics that gave rise to Harbinger itself from their own hubris. Though they paled in the light of their forms perfected in Harbinger and its kin, they were still formidable opponents in their own right. Allied with the rest of the organics, and building a device they had dubbed the Crucible, it was beyond the pale.

So when the pitiful and thoroughly indoctrinated organic dubbing himself 'Illusive Man' had contacted them and alerted them to the weakness the Great Relay presented to Harbingers, it was relocated to a more secure area. Even then, the assembled organic fleets, aided by synthetics of their own called the geth, attacked them in great numbers. Though they could not hope to defeat Harbinger, they would still cause unacceptable losses to their betters. Yet it turned out the grand action was little more than a stalling tactic while Shepard attempted used Harbinger's own device to try and ascend to the Great Relay and open it, allowing this 'Crucible' to interface with it.

Harbinger had been incensed that this pitiful organic had been the catalyst of all that had gone wrong it its attempt to once again establish order to the chaos created by these organics. It had left the battle above and went below to ensure that no organic reached the ascension device. It even spotted Shepard, and caught it in its beam. Once it observed that the pitiful human's life signs were weakening, it left to once again observe and conduct the battle above once again, proud of its work.

And then the arms of the Great Relay opened, and the Crucible was put into place. Once it was there none dared to fire upon it, for fear of damaging the Great Relay and releasing the energy stored within, potentially destroying them all. Then the arms opened wide and the Great Relay activated, a wave of energy spreading through the system, and eventually through the Lesser Relays to envelop the galaxy. The wave approached Harbinger; it watched and felt the death of its kin ahead of it.

As the wave washed over Harbinger and it felt itself dying, it wondered idly if its pride had been a weakness.


	3. Greed - Udina

_Councillor Udina, it has a nice ring to it_, Donnel thought to himself. He was in a gloating type of mood, especially since the news of Commander Shepard's arrest after what was being referred to as the Bahak incident. Though the details were sketchy on exactly how and why it happened, what happened was pretty easy to determine. Commander Shepard was sent in on a covert mission by Admiral Hackett himself, details highly classified, and it all ended with the relay destroyed and the Commander handing themselves over for arrest. The Alliance had placed her in 'protective custody' ever since, mostly to stop the batarians declaring all-out war.

But something had been happening recently. Batarian systems had been going suspiciously quiet of late. Not the usual quiet, where comm. buoy pings would use the lag to determine military build-up. This quiet wasn't because the military channels were taking up the traffic. This quiet was the kind of quiet when there wasn't any traffic at all. Not that Udina cared much about batarian with their constant need to attack along humanity's borders, but still, it was troubling.

Udina was about to get up again when a call came through on his private terminal frequency. This was unusual in itself, because he had given this frequency to no-one except his bodyguards and PA, and the signature wasn't any of them. His hand hesitated over the button that would call in the incoming call as a threat, but decided to open the channel first. If someone had gone through all the trouble to call him like this, it would be rude, not to mention bad sense, not to answer it, at least at first.

Once opened, the small screen on his desk showed a background of a dying star, against which the silhouette of a man in a chair could be seen. The only illumination of the mysterious figure itself were the blue irises of his artificial eyes and the burning end of his cigarette, painting his shadowy face in eerie tones.  
"Councillor Udina, congratulations on your recent promotion."  
"I'm sorry, you have me at a disadvantage here I'm afraid."  
"To be expected. I gave up my name long ago. But we do have a mutual acquaintance in Commander Shepard." Udina's calm face became a grimace.  
"Hardly one I would call friendly," he said acidly.

"True, the Commander does tend to put allegiance to the Alliance over more intelligent and pragmatic career moves."  
"You'll get no argument from me. So, what shall I call you, and why have you called me?"  
"I have been called many names: traitor, butcher, madman. You may call me the Illusive Man."  
"So you're with Cerberus."  
"Yes, and don't be too quick to jump to conclusions Councillor. Cerberus stands for humanity first. Why, we were the ones who dealt with those missing colonies recently, even had Commander Shepard working that particular case. Sadly, the Commander did not fully share our goals, and we parted ways shortly before the Bahak incident."  
"Don't be offended if I don't take you merely at your word," Udina sneered.  
"I would be offended if you didn't, but now to the reason I have called you today. As humanity's councillor, you have an unequal position to leverage humanity's place in the galaxy. And as someone who takes human advancement close to heart, I would be a useful ally in the coming years. And I reward my allies well."

"If you think this is merely about credits, you are off your mark," Udina said dismissively.  
"You and I both know Councillor that credits are merely the lubrication, the pathway to what humanity really needs. Leadership, leverage, prestige, _power_! These are the things that are waiting for you if you accept my offer." Udina caressed his chin, deep in thought. It was true that even though he was on the Council, the other three often dismissed him in ways they had never dismissed Anderson. He had no respect from them, a fact he was bitterly reminded of every few hours as he heard the turian Councillor's smug, condescending tone.

"Fine, assuming I go along with this offer, what do you get out of it?"  
"Friendship with a powerful figure in humanity's face to the galaxy isn't to be underestimated. And a favour here or there will hardly be seen in a bad light if done correctly. I'm offering you respect Udina, and the way to get it. All I'm asking for in return is that you listen to me when I ask for favours, and not dismiss them out of hand because of who I am. Besides, aren't you tired of living like a pauper when you should be living like a prince?"

Udina sat silently for a moment, before subtly nodding his head.  
"You have a deal." The Illusive man took a deep puff of his cigarette, the light illuminating his smiling face for a moment.  
"Excellent. A pleasure doing business with you. One of my agents will contact you shortly to arrange the details of your new accounts. Good day." As the line closed, Udina thought about all the things he had been denied for so long, simply because he couldn't afford it.

* * *

"Councillor, good to hear from you." The Illusive Man's calls never varied in place, but now that their business partnership had been going on for a while, he had allowed Udina a more enlightened view when they talked.  
"Illusive Man, apologies that I took so long returning your call." Udina smiled greedily, for he had certainly been enjoying the benefits of the Illusive Man's business since their first call. First the luxury apartment, then the looks on the Council's faces as he deftly outmanoeuvred them in negotiations using Cerberus intel.

"Apologies are unnecessary my friend. Unfortunately, I have some bad news to relay."  
"What is it this time?" Udina asked.  
"I have to inform you that as much as we may dislike Commander Shepard personally, they were right about one thing. The Reapers are coming." Udina barely contained his scoff.  
"Look, Shepard is insane, Sovereign was an isolated threat. There is no evidence the Reapers exist."  
"But there is Councillor, I have it here. One of my Cerberus vessels was able to take this footage from an espionage mission into batarian space." A second window opened on Udina's terminal, showing footage of a gigantic Reaper, before it cut out to static. "This ship was destroyed, but not before it could confirm the Reaper threat. I have plans already in motion to deal with this, but there is only so much Cerberus can do alone. They will come to Earth eventually."  
"The Council won't lift a finger to help us."  
"Not willingly, not at first," the Illusive Man replied cryptically.  
"Oh?"

"I have a plan in motion that will ensure us the Council will cooperate. But it will take time. I will need your help in this Donnel."  
"If Earth needs it, then consider it done."  
"I had a feeling you might say that," the Illusive Man replied, a smile on his face. "Expect a bonus in your next package." Udina's smile grew to match his partner's at the mention of a bonus.

* * *

When the call finally came, and Udina was not happy. The Reapers had hit Earth hard, obliterating dreadnaughts like twigs and forcing the Alliance back to a ground war. The Council, as he predicted, hadn't even spared a thought to their newest members, claiming the need to protect their own homeworlds. When the possibility of naming another human Spectre came up, the Illusive Man had suggested the member of Shepard's crew that had been injured on Mars.  
"_Use your influence. Play on their distrust of Shepard's involvement with Cerberus. Get them on your side. Then, when our plan is in motion, they won't be able to question you_."

It had been easier said than done, given that Shepard's distaste for the human Councillor had apparently rubbed off on their crew as well, even if they were already predisposed to distrust Shepard. It took work to convince them to take the Spectre posting as well, but Udina had managed both in the end. Once the Spectre induction had been completed, the message of a missed call from the Illusive Man was waiting for him.

"Udina, the time has come. The salarian Councillor has been investigating your finances recently. He may or may not know anything, but we have to move before suspicious become actions. I have a flotilla of ships en route to the Citadel, unmarked. I need you to provide them docking clearance at these locations, and then once that's done, get your newest Spectre and take the Council, minus the salarian, to these locations. A shuttle will be there to take you all to a secure location, where we will be able to... _persuade_ the Council to give you command of the Citadel fleets to retake Earth."  
"This won't be easy, or cheap."  
"As I've said before Donnel, credits come and go, but respect lasts forever. Don't you want to be remembered as the man who, when humanity needed a leader, stepped up and became the hero we needed and deserved?"

The glint in Udina's eyes of future glory blinded him to the potential hazards in getting there. He authorised everything the Illusive Man requested quickly, already seeing his name in the history books.

* * *

"If you let him open that door, Cerberus assassins will be waiting," Commander Shepard said to their former crewmate, who had pulled a gun on them. Udina used this Council authority to override the door locks, Cerberus assassins precisely what he was hoping to find. While the two human Spectres bickered about who was loyal to whom and Cerberus ties, Udina was almost done with the locks. Then the asari Councillor decided she believed Shepard, and put a hand on his arm to stop him. Udina snarled and shoved her away, pulling his pistol out from its concealed holster and pointing it at the akimbo asari. He only needed one other Councillor alive to assume command, after all, and he had always hated the cool superiority of the asari. His finger was squeezing the trigger and he heard a shot, but not from his own gun. He looked further down at the hole in his chest leaking blood.

Bbefore he collapsed, his final thought before his life ended was how he was going to be a hero.


	4. Lust - Traynor

Samantha Traynor was excited this morning. She was about to start a brand new project, one she had been given amazing levels of security clearance and resources for. She chuckled to herself as she checked herself in the mirror one last time, remembering how at the beginning, she had thought it was a joke.

* * *

She had just finished her shift at the R&D labs on Arcturus and was about to enter her private quarters when she noticed there were people waiting outside. A lot of people. A lot of ranking admirals, her brain finally processed the sight of the golden bars on the shoulders of the person in the middle. She snapped into a salute, not daring to move a muscle until it was returned and the order given to stand easy. She stayed silent and didn't dare move her eyes as the dark-skinned man in the admiral jacket stepped closer.

"Communication Specialist Samantha Traynor?" he asked, a hint of a London accent creeping in to his smooth baritone. Samantha unconsciously relaxed a little at the sound of something familiar to her own Oxford twang.  
"Sir, I wasn't aware that there was an inspection today," she replied formally. This earned her an eye roll and a scoff from the Londoner.  
"Please Specialist; I think we can leave the formality at the door. I'm not here for an inspection or a reprimand, I'm here to see you personally."  
"Me, Sir?"  
"Yes you. I've got a project lined up for a very talented person. I'm looking for someone recently graduated from Oxford, with post-grad work in quantum entanglement theory and application, has several published papers in the area, and is currently lodged right here," he said jovially, pointing at the door to her quarters to illustrate.

"That sounds like me Sir. But forgive me for asking bluntly: why?"  
"Because I like to work with the best Traynor, and right now, that's you. So, can I interest you?"  
"I-I'm not sure Admiral. Commander Cogs is kind of possessive about us."  
"Don't worry about Hugo; he's just a big softie. And it's Anderson, by the way."  
"Yes Sir, Admiral Anderson," she replied, a smile creeping to her lips after hearing Commander Cogs being called 'Hugo' and 'softie' by Anderson. "Assuming you can pull strings with the Commander, what exactly will I be doing?" Anderson smiled at the discovery of Samantha's sense of humour under the initial fear.  
"Top level refitting of an experimental frigate to accommodate the latest in quantum entanglement and FTL communication technology. You'll have complete autonomy and access to anything the Alliance can requisition. I expect nothing less for my new command ship."  
"And what ship would that be Sir,"  
"The _Normandy_, of course."

Samantha's smile froze on her face. She had a horrible flashback of her experience on Horizon, ending with a flash of Commander Shepard's face before she was back in the present.  
"Th-The _Normandy_, Sir? As in Commander Shepard's ship?"  
"Former ship," Anderson replied quickly, his tone of voice lowering the temperature around them. He forced himself to smile again though. "So, are you interested Specialist?"  
"I think you could probably persuade me Sir. Just let me get my toothbrush."

* * *

And that was that. Her transfer was processed at record-breaking pace, which wasn't hard considering the requesting admiral hovering over your shoulder generally encouraged efficiency. She'd been given new quarters in Vancouver, a generous salary, and as Anderson had said, complete autonomy and access to just about any resource she needed. Today was her first day on the actual ship itself though, and she felt her old nerves returning. As the shuttle landed near the spaceport dry-dock, she got her first glimpse at the ship of Commander Shepard.

She knew it wasn't the original, that was little more than scrap and a memorial statue somewhere in the arse-end of the Terminus. This one was the one Cerberus had built for her t take on the Collectors. When they had been targeting human colonies. Like Horizon. She felt her chest tighten and fought it back down, taking deep breaths and thinking about something, anything other than being trapped and helpless as she had watched Commander Shepard and her team fighting Collectors. She took strength in the memory of those warm eyes meeting hers, the muffled sound of her voice telling her it would be alright, before she was gone. Later the stasis faded and learned that the Commander was already gone, the _Normandy_ having taken her away.

She suddenly found herself in a fantasy she had used several times when alone, of her and the famous Commander Shepard alone somewhere, nothing between them to stop roving hands. She stopped it before it got too far and she did something indecent or just downright weird in public, before moving to the gangway that connected the _Normandy_ to the facility. She was met by a trio of others, two low-ranking privates in Alliance fatigues and a man in a wheelchair.

_Hmm, I wonder if either of those privates would let me see theirs. And want to see mine of course,_ Sam thought to herself. She looked at the man being wheeled in front of them and wondered what he was doing. Perhaps another specialist installing something unrelated to her communications upgrades. He caught sight of her, and she was immediately treated to the same lecherous stare she often got in college before the guys found out she didn't play for their team.  
"Hey there good looking. So, want to try and ditch my chaperones here and go for lunch later?" he asked with a grin. Sam couldn't help but laughing, remembering her college years. At least he was upfront about it, and was refreshingly funny as well. She decided she could play back with this one, maybe make herself a new friend as well.  
"Sorry there love, but I'm more likely to have lunch with said chaperones than you," she said with a smile. To his credit, his smile didn't even flicker.  
"Oh really now? So, which one would be your pick, Sarah or Bethany?" he said, pointing to each of the privates to identify them. "Or maybe both? If it's both, can I watch, or at least take pictures?"

Sam watched very carefully as Sarah frowned a little, at the first suggestion, and then deepen at the mention of pictures. Bethany however, smiled a little and gave Sam a quick once-over at the suggestion of lunch, before joining Sarah in her scowl at the seated man. _Looks like we have a winner,_ Sam thought to herself.  
"Where are my manners? Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor," she said, extending her hand.  
"Privates Campbell and Westmoreland," replied Sarah, finishing her glare at the man, whose wheelchair she gave a kick. "And this regular comedian here is Jeff Moreau."  
"Call me Joker," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. "No hard feelings about the pictures thing?"  
"None here, though you might want to adjust your pants there Joker." The three of them suddenly looked down at Joker's crotch and saw exactly nothing, at which point they all burst out laughing at being played like that.  
"Something tells me we'll get along just fine Traynor," Joker said, wiping the tear from his eye and wheeling himself towards the airlock.

After the standard decon procedures, Sam was slightly startled by the most incredible voice she had ever heard in her life.  
"Logged, Flight Lieutenant Moreau is aboard."  
"Was that the VI?" asked Sam, after swallowing heavily.  
"Yeah, that's EDI, the onboard VI," Bethany explained. "Only responds to Joker's commands, so we need to keep bringing him here, even though he should be in lockdown. Asshole manages to get an extranet connection here, spends most of his time searching for porn, while we have to babysit him."  
"Does he find any good stuff?" Sam blurted out, before her eyes go wide. Bethany smirks, before taking Sam by the hand and leading her down the main deck.  
"Sarah, watch our little friend while I give Sam the tour, eh?"  
"Yeah, whatever," Sarah replied, uninterested.

Once they were out of Joker's earshot, Bethany started to giggle.  
"Rule number one around Joker, never encourage him. Rule number two; never ask about his porn collection. Rule number three, don't hit him too hard, he's got brittle bones."  
"Oh, right."  
"And to answer your question, no, he doesn't. Mostly girl-on-girl or girl-on-asari, though recently he's been on something of a quarian kick. And before you ask, no, even the stuff we would watch isn't very good. Doesn't focus on the right... bits." Sam tried to fight the blush as her suspicion was closer to confirmed about the alluring Private Westmoreland.  
"I see. So, can you point me to the communications systems, I'd like to see what I have to work with."  
"Right, just down here. They opened up a whole lot of space at the rear of the deck, lots of wires and things I really don't understand. Just ask EDI if you need any help, she's pretty knowledgeable about the ship. And if you need help with anything else, just come and find me," She said with a smile and a wink, before turning around and heading back to the helm. Sam took a few seconds to watch Bethany's retreating form appreciatively before she caught herself and shook her head to focus.

She spend the rest of the day getting caught up with the current ship specifications, asking EDI a question and being almost hypnotised by the sound of the VI voice. It was low and smooth, almost like silk. In a moment of weakness she may have allowed herself a little fantasy of herself and that voice, coming from a mouth that looked remarkably like Bethany's, rolling around in aforementioned satin sheets.  
"Shall I remember this for future reference Specialist Traynor?" Sam's eyes went wide as she realised she must have said that last part out loud.

She blushed madly but said nothing, resolving to complete the days' work in silence and not, definitely not, thinking about EDI's voice or Bethany's cute smile and fantastic behind and great-looking tits and...

_Great, first day on the job and I'm already lusting after not one, but two completely different entities. Way to go Samantha_.

* * *

**A/N: This one goes out to a good friend of mine here on FF - one HugoCogs. I even put you in mate, you can't get better than that!**


End file.
